Star Wars: The Old Republic Takes to the StarsOct 9th, 2013 at 11:00 AM by ShdwFlm

Pew pew! Everyone loves space combat, which is why BioWare has announced the new Galactic Starfighter expansion for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Available as early as December 3rd, subscribers will take off into 12v12 PVP space combat with multiple zones and gameplay modes.It will also feature ship customization and 'ground game' rewards to boost your character.

Ready to play? Here’s when you can start:

December 3rd: Subscriber Early Access, if you are a subscriber prior to November 1st.January 14th: Preferred Early Access, if you have made a purchase or previously subscribed.February 4th: Free-to-Play Access, if you simply have the game.

Will this be enough to lure in new or former SWTOR subscribers? We certainly think so. If the Galactic Starfighter expansion becomes Star Conflict in the Star Wars universe with iconic ships, then we have little doubt that it will be well-received. The expansion is still a few months away though, so consider trying Star Conflict for piloting practice while you wait.

For a feature that has so much potential, space combat, they seem to have implemented it in the least desirable way. Instanced, player limited, PvP. SWToRs strong suit has always been PvE and story, not seeing how this is going to do much unless they surprise everyone and expand it. I mean **** if they were going to do PvP you would think non instanced zone and objective based PvP with some level of persistence would have been more interesting.

Also why sub? The game doesn't give the carrot to subscribers, they give the stick to non subscribers and then tell the subscribers "you don't want the stick do you, then pay up". The way they have implemented their ***** the player F2P system makes me want to give them as little as possible. So personally I would recommend, make a small purchase to get preferred status, level a character to max buying the most important feature unlocks(to you) from the galactic network(AH) as you level. Spend a few days doing dailies at max and unlock the rest of the stuff you want. If you plan on leveling alts save up for the account unlocks and don't waste your money on character unlocks. It doesn't take too long to unlock action bars, inventory slots, cargo bay. When you have all the unlocks you want, just buy passes from the galactic network for the content you want to do each week. It is a bit of a pain the ***, but for a company that treats their players so poorly, it is better than giving them money.